Database Management Articles
EnterpriseDB, the commercial software company supporting the PostgreSQL open source database, recently announced the release of Postgres Plus Standard Server 8.4, an advanced open source database product that combines the price and performance benefits of a community-developed open source technology, with the full support of a stable commercial entity. PostgreSQL adoption is growing rapidly, and many organizations are now viewing it as an alternative to proprietary database offerings. With this version of Postgres Plus Standard Server, EnterpriseDB is advancing this adoption by giving enterprises the cost benefits of an open source database platform, the performance benefits of a community-developed product, and the reassurance of proven vendor support.
Posted October 20, 2009
At the recent Oracle OpenWorld event, Oracle announced a series of new enhancements to its Java middleware stack, which incorporates application server and Java tools from last year's BEA acquisition. Dubbed the Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Grid, the offerings are intended to enable faster development and deployments within the Java framework. At the core of Oracle's offerings is WebLogic application server, acquired from BEA, which integrates some functionality of the now discontinued Oracle Application Server.
Posted October 19, 2009
IBM had mixed news for the most recent earnings quarter—some segments were down, and others keep growing. Overall, the company grew slightly from last quarter, but was down from a year ago. Total revenues for the third quarter of 2009 were $23.6 billion, up a percent from the second quarter of 2009, and down 7% from the third quarter of 2008.
Posted October 19, 2009
BlueFinity International has introduced the latest enhancement to its .NET development toolset for MultiValue databases, mv.NET with Solution Objects. mv.NET provides a 100% native .NET interface to all major MultiValue databases, allowing .NET developers to access all aspects of their MultiValue systems. The new Solution Objects component set for mv.NET builds upon this existing infrastructure to provide strongly-typed, class-based access to MultiValue databases via the generation of an advanced data abstraction layer.
Posted October 13, 2009
Robert Catalano, Director of Sales, Revelation Software, Discusses New Features in OpenInsight 9.1
Posted October 13, 2009
IBM recently completed the sale of its worldwide U2 database and tools assets to Rocket Software, a global software development firm, based in Newton, Mass. "The entire U2 team worldwide is moving from IBM to Rocket," Susie Siegesmund, director, IBM U2 Data Servers and Tools, IBM Information Management Software, tells DBTA, reiterating sentiments expressed in a letter to customers when the sale was announced, in which she assured them that the change of ownership will be a benefit to U2's product line as well as customers and business partners and will not affect relationships with the U2 business.
Posted October 13, 2009
In this season of recession and financial meltdowns, a common question seems to be, "How big is ‘too big to fail'?" Titans of the financial industry made big bets with lots of risk and, when they didn't pan out, American society overall has to pay the price. But, that aside, the very scale of our financial system, by just about every metric, has reached amazing heights, be that number of financial transactions per second, number of traders, number of funds traded, amount of money changing hands—you name it. This might seem like a tangent to the point of databases in general and SQL Server in particular, but there are actually quite a few similarities in my mind.
Posted October 13, 2009
As my regular readers know, I am an avid reader, especially of technology books. And every now and then I review some of the more interesting database-related books in the DBA Corner column.
Posted October 13, 2009
The art of building software solutions is comprised of many moving parts. There are project managers coordinating tasks; business analysts gathering requirements; architects establishing standards and designs; developers assembling processes; DBAs building database structures; quality assurance staff testing components for compliance to requirements; and an array of supporting roles providing for functional environments, infrastructure, security, etc. A common task that everyone must perform is estimating the effort necessary to deliver results. Certainly for simple and/or repetitive tasks there is no need for recurrent estimating, since applicable values are based on past known metrics. For example, creating the third or fourth version of the same database within the same environment should allow a DBA to incorporate costs experienced previously as a guide. And unless something unusual occurs, such estimates should be on target. However for creative tasks, such as designing new structures, or building new kinds of processes, there will be no previous documented events to refer to. Faced with these circumstances, individuals usually are not allowed to shrug and say, "it will take as long as it takes," and be left alone.
Posted October 13, 2009
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) can be considered the most significant compliance standard of our time. Since the passing of the legislation 7 years ago, companies have had to rethink the way they use technology to store company data. This transformation has been anything but an easy ride for companies today, and has significantly impacted the role of the CIO within an organization.
Posted October 13, 2009
In art, the expression "less is more" implies that simplicity of line and composition allow a viewer to better appreciate the individual elements of a piece and their relationship to each other to make a whole. In engineering, "less is more" when you accomplish the same work with fewer moving parts. And when dining out, "less is more" when the portions may be smaller, but the food is so much better and satisfying. In IT, the adage is more accurately stated today as "less does more." As IT increases in complexity, mainframe organizations are being asked to handle greater workloads, bigger databases, more applications, more system resources, and new initiatives. All this, without adding—and sometimes while cutting—staff. In addition, IT is undergoing a serious "mainframe brain drain," as the most experienced technicians retire, taking with them their skills and detailed knowledge of the mainframes' idiosyncrasies.
Posted October 13, 2009
Oracle has unveiled the latest release of Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise, with PeopleSoft Enterprise Human Capital Management (HCM) 9.1, PeopleSoft Enterprise PeopleTools 8.50, PeopleSoft Enterprise Learning Management 9.1 and PeopleSoft Enterprise Portal 9.1.
Posted October 08, 2009
Embarcadero Technologies, a provider of multi-platform database tools and developer software, has announced the general availability of Embarcadero's flagship data modeling suite, ER/Studio Enterprise 8.5. This newest version of Embarcadero's data modeling tool combines process modeling, data modeling, application modeling and reporting into a comprehensive design and modeling solution.
Posted October 08, 2009
Compuware Corporation and Gomez today announced the signing of a definitive agreement for Compuware to acquire privately-held Gomez, Inc. Compuware is an application performance management software company, and Gomez is a vendor in web application experience management. The $295 million cash acquisition is expected to close in November of 2009.
Posted October 07, 2009
xkoto, a database virtualization software company, recently announced the availability of GRIDSCALE 5.1 for Microsoft SQL Server and IBM DB2 databases. GRIDSCALE is an active-active solution that virtualizes the database infrastructure. It enables businesses to distribute application loads horizontally across multiple database copies, resulting in better reliability and performance than that of more costly and complex legacy clustering solutions. This latest release of GRIDSCALE adds new features that enhance the performance and capabilities of both SQL Server and IBM DB2 databases.
Posted October 07, 2009
DBSopic, a developer of software solutions for database performance optimization, has announced the release of Qure version 1.5. Qure is DBSophic's solution for performance tuning of Microsoft SQL server (2005 and 2008) databases. It is a software solution for automatic analysis, identification, and resolution of slow performance issues in these databases. Qure 1.5 is a valuable tool that helps reduce operational costs associated with managing the performance of mission-critical databases, increasing operational efficiency, and reducing unwarranted expenses, thus granting organizations a rapid return on investment.
Posted October 07, 2009
Oracle has announced the availability of Oracle Application Testing Suite (ATS) 9.0, an open and integrated application testing solution for Oracle applications, web and SOA applications.
Posted October 01, 2009
Continuing its approach of providing tailored master data management (MDM) solutions for key industries, Oracle announced the availability of Oracle Higher Education Constituent Hub. As a tailored MDM solution for higher education institutions, the new Oracle Higher Education Constituent Hub enables customers to reduce IT costs and lower implementation times by eliminating the need to build customized solutions.
Posted October 01, 2009
Oracle recently introduced new capabilities for its Accelerate Program, including new Accelerate Solutions, Oracle Business Accelerators, financing options and deployment methods.
Posted October 01, 2009
Working with Sybase and ISUG, Bradmark Technologies will showcase its premier monitoring and event management solution at cities across the U.S. this fall.
Posted September 23, 2009
At the Sybase Techwave Symposium in Washington, D.C., last month, Sybase announced the availability of its data management and analytics servers, including Sybase SQL Anywhere, Sybase IQ, and Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise, for the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) environment. With these products, customers will have the ability to quickly develop and deploy on-demand data systems for mobile, analytics and transactional applications.
Posted September 23, 2009
Also at Techwave last month, Sybase announced the newest release of Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) Cluster Edition, its enterprise data management solution that reduces the complexity of deploying a database application across a shared disk server cluster environment.
Posted September 23, 2009
CA, Inc. today announced CA Database Management r12 for DB2 for z/OS, and CA Database Management r12 for IMS, the latest versions of its mainframe database management solution. The new versions feature enhancements for performance management, database administration, and backup and recovery.
Posted September 21, 2009
Oracle has introduced new releases of Oracle Berkeley DB and Oracle Berkeley DB XML, two members of the Oracle Berkeley DB family of open source, embeddable databases.
Posted September 15, 2009
Ntirety Inc., which provides both software tools/appliances and database experts to proactively monitor, manage, and optimize customer's Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and MySQL databases, has released Ntrust version 4, the newest generation of its proprietary database administration platform that enables Ntirety to remotely and securely service customers' databases. With the version 4 release, Ntrust is now available as either a physical appliance that resides at a client's site or as a virtualized offering to meet the needs of customers utilizing cloud computing.
Posted September 15, 2009
InterSystems Corporation has introduced technology additions to its InterSystems CACHÉ high-performance object database. Available now in CACHÉ 2009, the new features provide enhanced web services security, reporting, and system management and monitoring.
Posted September 14, 2009
Revelation Software is planning several road shows for the last quarter of 2009 and is soliciting input from users about where to host the events. Possible cities include: Boston, Mass.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Ill.; Houston, Tex.; London, United Kingdom; Nashville, Tenn.; Seattle, Wash.; Sydney, Australia; Tampa, Fla.; Westwood, N.J.; and Vancouver, Canada. Votes for cities can be cast at the Revelation website. City selections will be announced in September.
Posted September 14, 2009
A member of the Quest International Users Group and IT specialist at Shell Canada Ltd., Sue Shaw took on the role of president of the users group in June. She talks with Database Trends and Applications about what drew her in as a member and her goals for the PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, and Oracle Utilities association now that she is at the helm.
Posted September 14, 2009
This year, despite a turbulent economy marked by painful layoffs in many sectors, database professionals appear to be weathering the storm. In fact, database professionals reported higher incomes and bonuses this year over last. Still, a sizeable segment of professionals saw changes in their jobs as a result of economic conditions, and many are concerned going forward about the impact of tighter budgets on their departments' performance.
Posted September 14, 2009
Microsoft SQL Server has been a favorite for years for organizations that want to implement business intelligence (BI) functionality - even in traditionally non-Microsoft shops. Especially since the SQL Server 2005 release, the ROI of a Microsoft solution coupled with the ease of implementation has driven healthy adoption of the DBMS for BI. And the integration of SQL Server 2008 with Microsoft Office, SharePoint Server, and PerformancePoint Services for delivering BI to end users has created an even stronger end-to-end platform.
Posted September 14, 2009
Clerity Solutions, a provider of mainframe migration and modernization solutions, today introduced the Clerity Migration and Modernization Analysis Process (MMAP) for Adabas Natural environments. The new service is targeted at helping companies analyze migration options for Software AG environments, including the business impact and implementation requirements involved in moving to other platforms and application architectures.
Posted September 14, 2009
Oracle Database 11g Release 2 became generally available and downloadable yesterday from the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). Improvements have been made in all key areas, with a general emphasis on helping customers lower their IT infrastructure costs. Announcing the new release during a conference call yesterday, Andy Mendelsohn, senior vice president of Database Server Technologies, Oracle observed, "Right now the majority of our installed base customers are running on 10g R2, with a good number on 11g R1. The reason 11g R2 is important is not only for the innovations in the release but it is really the release that the masses of our installed base are going to be moving to as they go to the 11g family of databases."
Posted September 02, 2009
Stratavia, an independent provider of data center automation and cloud enablement software solutions, has announced the release of the Sybase Migration Data Center Automation Application, a software solution aimed at enabling organizations to make an error-free migration from Sybase database environments to their choice of Oracle, as well as Microsoft SQL Server or IBM DB2 database platforms. Stratavia customers can now automate the migration of Sybase database objects, code and data from a centralized location, while also enabling self-service access for application teams to begin their testing without impacting migration timelines.
Posted September 02, 2009
Oracle has extended the Oracle Validated Configurations program to include Oracle VM server virtualization software. "The Validated Configurations program creates best practices for deploying Linux in the enterprise," Monica Kumar, senior director, product marketing, Oracle, tells 5 Minute Briefing. "Oracle has created a test kit which we share with partners, customers and actually it is an open source test kit. It is available for free download by anyone. You can use a test kit to run multiple tests against a stack, which includes servers, storage, drivers, networking components, operating system—in this case being Linux—and now we have added virtualization to that stack and an Oracle Database version."
Posted September 02, 2009
Oracle Database 11g Release 2 is generally available and downloadable today from the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). Improvements have been made in all key areas, with a general emphasis on helping customers lower their IT infrastructure costs.
Posted September 01, 2009
Stratavia, an independent provider of data center automation and cloud enablement software solutions, has announced the release of the Sybase Migration Data Center Automation Application, a software solution aimed at enabling organizations to make an error-free migration from Sybase database environments to their choice of Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server or IBM DB2 database platforms. Stratavia customers can now automate the migration of Sybase database objects, code and data from a centralized location, while also enabling self-service access for application teams to begin their testing without impacting migration timelines.
Posted September 01, 2009
Sybase has announced the beta availability for PowerBuilder 12, considered by the company to be one of the most significant in the product's history. This latest release provides developers with an easy and cost-effective path to the Microsoft .NET Framework, the Microsoft Windows component that supports building and running the next generation of applications.
Posted August 26, 2009
Bradmark Technologies, Inc., a provider of data management solutions, today announced that it has teamed with Sybase, the largest enterprise software and services company exclusively focused on managing and mobilizing information, and Intertech Consulting, Inc., a strategic partner for companies striving to gain competitive advantage through the use of information technology, to provide professional services offerings for Surveillance installations.
Posted August 26, 2009
InterSystems Corporation has introduced technology additions to its InterSystems CACHÉ high-performance object database. Available now in CACHÉ 2009, the new features provide enhanced web services security, reporting, and system management and monitoring.
Posted August 26, 2009
With the Denver event less than a month away, the U2 team is doing final reviews of all the sessions, and making final hotel arrangements for U2 University 2009, the premier U2 technical event. The U.S. event will be Sept. 16-18 at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Denver.
Posted August 26, 2009
Revelation is offering special pricing this summer for fall training classes. Through the end of August, individuals can register for themselves, and bring a co-worker along for free.
Posted August 26, 2009
In a brief announcement last week, Oracle stated that the U.S. Department of Justice has approved its proposed acquisition of Sun Microsystems and terminated the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.
Posted August 25, 2009
Quest Software, Inc. has unveiled the newest version of SharePlex for Oracle, a real-time Oracle-Oracle database replication solution that supports high availability, reporting, data synchronization/integration, and load balancing on Oracle databases. Key features introduced in the new version include wildcard support, batch processing, and configuration management enhancements to SharePlex's monitoring and management dashboard, SharePlex Manager. These new features bring benefits in the areas of ease-of-use, improved performance, task automation, and managing complex replication environments.
Posted August 19, 2009
InterSystems Corporation yesterday introduced technology additions to its InterSystems CACHÉ high-performance object database. Available now in CACHÉ 2009, the new features provide enhanced web services security, reporting, and system management and monitoring.
Posted August 18, 2009
Four top Microsoft SQL Server executives will present keynote addresses at the Professional Association for SQL Server's PASS Summit Unite 2009 conference, Nov. 2-5.
Posted August 18, 2009
There are mainly four kinds of information management professionals in an OLTP environment—data architects, database architects, application DBAs and operational (or production support) DBAs. It should be the aim of an information management professional to master all the four roles and seamlessly shift between them with ease. Once you are able to shift roles easily, be assured that you're adding to the revenue of your business.
Posted August 14, 2009
The data manager's job has never been easy, often presenting significant challenges, including data system rewrites, data security, regulatory compliance, and reporting. And the digital age, with a myriad of new and innovative data sources and more sophisticated analytic models, presents its own unique hurdles to implementing a successful data-management and data-quality program in the modern insurance enterprise.
Posted August 14, 2009
New data modelers often see things as black and white. But rather than being concrete flooring beneath our feet, knowledge is more like a gossamer web that builds up layer upon layer to provide the effect of a solid foundation. We may think we know facts, such as one plus one equals two, or Columbus discovered America in 1492. What we have come to know about our world comprises our own internal knowledge base. We gain much of this knowledge because it has been passed onto us by others, people with experience, parents, educators, clever friends, verbally or in print. But how do we know such items are real, actual, absolute bona fide beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt truths?
Posted August 14, 2009
Microsoft SQL Server's relational engine has offered new instrumentation that improves by light years with each new release. The introduction of Dynamic Management Views (DMVs) in SQL Server 2005 provided a much-needed equivalent to Oracle's long-standing and capable V$ and X$ system views. SQL Server 2008 has provided another dramatic improvement to its instrumentation with Extended Events (also known as XEvents) that promises to offer even greater opportunities to tune, trace and troubleshoot the inner workings of a SQL Server application. All of this stands in stark contrast with the anemic instrumentation offered in SQL Server Analysis Services, Microsoft's wonderful multi-dimensional data repository that is a free feature-set within the SQL Server product.
Posted August 14, 2009
As the U.S. markets strive for a recovery in 2009, many IT managers are cringing at the thought of managing their data through what may be a record year of mergers and acquisitions. Managing an ever-increasing mountain of data is not a simple task in the best of times, but doing so while combining formerly separate entities during an economic slowdown can be a monumental challenge.
Posted August 14, 2009